Another reason to dislike BigWind? It is racist and sexist

The title under this picture, ‘Mainly young and female bats are killed at wind turbines.’ Just one more reason to dislike the industrial monsters….

Wind turbines are responsible for the death of numerous bats. In a recent study, scientists determined the origin of these animals: they do not only come from local areas but many had been already on a long migratory journey. Who then bears responsibility not only for the protection of native bat populations, but also for the populations from other countries, a European study asks….

Approximately 300,000 bats are estimated to be at risk of getting killed by German wind turbines every year, unless this risk is reduced by turning off the systems at night during the main activity hours of bats…

Unfortunately, wind turbines even attract bats. During the mating season in autumn, bats swarm at conspicuous landscape features such as exposed rocks, church towers or even wind turbines, and in the latter case they may then collide with the blades. Christian Voigt is surprised that only few far-reaching measures have been taken that stop wind turbines to turn into deadly traps: “Bats are protected under both national law and EU law, and migratory species are protected by a UN convention signed by Germany. Anyone who kills a bat on purpose can be prosecuted for a criminal offence.” There is little emphasis on making operators of wind turbines accountable for these bat accidents because increasing the share of renewable energy is a political priority. “The protection of climate and species are played off against each other — but for a comprehensive approach to environmental conservation they should really go hand in hand.”

Wind turbines and bats could actually get along well with each other: bats do not like strong wind. They are only active at wind speeds of up to six to eight meters per second. At this speed, wind turbines only just start to produce energy in an economic manner. If the turbines run only in strong wind, collisions could be avoided — as could be those between the protectors of species and climate…

If you visit Fairneny — and people are; people from Savoy, in particular, where a wind farm is being proposed — he will likely employ colorful language to explain to you why industrial wind turbines are a bad deal from the standpoint of noise, alleged health risks, and impact on the environment and property values. "We're screwed here," he say […]

WPD Canada has stated that the company’s board of directors have decided not to proceed with an appeal of that decision, and will not be moving ahead with what would have been an eight-turbine project.

The construction of a larger 30 megawatt capacity wind project in the same general area northwest of Kimball where a decommissioned wind project has existed in the past will triple the amount of power generated.